


We Suck Young Blood

by ovijiaboardz



Series: I see blue lights in your eyes (reflections of another land) [1]
Category: Dangan Ronpa - All Media Types, New Dangan Ronpa V3: Everyone's New Semester of Killing
Genre: Angst, Character Study, Gen, Headcanon, Inktober 2019, Pre-Game Personalities (New Dangan Ronpa V3), Spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-03
Updated: 2019-10-03
Packaged: 2020-11-09 06:18:03
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,887
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20848889
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ovijiaboardz/pseuds/ovijiaboardz
Summary: Areyouhungry? Areyousick? Areyoubeggingfor abreak? // Once you embrace your fear & enjoy the experience, it becomes an escape. Once it becomes an escape, it spreads like wildfire. (Pre-game V3)





	We Suck Young Blood

**Author's Note:**

> Done 4 Day 2 of inktober, mindless! The lyrics + title are from the song We Suck Young Blood, by Radiohead. It was the main inspiration for this fic.

Reality is such a bore. Everything was so predictable, mediocre, boring. High school is a hierarchy of adolescents, their raging hormones leading to ansgt trains, fighters, drama queens and everything in between. Everyone has their own ways of coping with the trivial matters of everyday life, reasons to go on, passions, dreams, people to prove wrong, unspoken words and unshared ideas. 

For a growing group of influential youth, that escape was a popular underground series known as _ Danganronpa _.

Danganronpa was unspeakably _ awful _ in so many regards. It was a series of death games featuring flashy characters with themes of madness, betrayal, hope, lies, and truth. It was unfiltered, it was graphic, it was horrific. There was no line Danganronpa wouldn’t cross. It was all things awful, an escape from the everyday dramas into a flashy story with intricate mysteries, themes and characters. In Danganronpa, your life was fair game in the battle of hope against despair, and nothing else mattered.

is humanity so drawn to fear? Many people like being scared, and seek out frightening experiences themselves. Fear gives some a certain rush, and can release endorphins making us feel good. Life or death type fear distracts you from your daily struggles, making them seem meaningless and insignificant. Once you can embrace your fear and enjoy the experience, it becomes an escape. Once it becomes an escape, many teens become _ hooked _. 

The auditions stacked higher than ever, and while it was a little alarming how many teenagers were willing to throw their lives away for their favorite story, it wasn’t surprising. There’s a certain mindset that leads high school aged students to make bad choices, whether it be drugs, smoking, petty crime, gangs, or anything that could harm them in the moment or in the future. Around this time of your life, you’re probably your own worst enemy.

It all started with a school that pressures you about your future and what you’ll do with yourself while not looking out for the mental health and emotional well being of their students. An alarming number of them won’t see a future for themselves, they’ll crack under the pressure and do whatever they want, clinging to the notions that they’ll “die young anyway.” 

It’s matters like this, Tsumugi presumed, that drove people to sign up for Danganronpa. Surely led her to join last season, and when she survived she felt alive in a way she’s never felt before. It wasn’t something that motivated her to get her real life back on track, no, reality was such a bore and she wanted nothing to do with it, not after how far she’s come. She wanted to control it, she wanted a season of Danganronpa all for her own. She knew she’d probably be executed herself by the time the season was over, so it was time to go all out. With auditions coming up and some costumes and motives brainstormed, she was beyond ready for a vivacious, flashy fucking _ disaster _.

Many different types of people auditioned for Danganronpa. The participants each had their own reasons for signing up, but the thing they all had in common was either not seeing a future for themselves, or not caring. Perhaps they’d survive and hit it big, maybe they wouldn’t. 

The crowd was filled with eyes that have either lost their light entirely, or filled with empty ambition. They smiled and laughed in the face of their own deaths. It was compromised suicide, and the kids were piling up, begging to be let in. They pitched talent ideas, murder ideas, etc - Tsumugi thought the ones who wished to be angsts were most intruging. The antagonist wannabes were often the shyest, quietest children, the ones who wouldn’t speak in class and keep diaries. 

Tsumugi signed the acceptance letters herself, dotting her i’s with hearts. Congratulations! You were accepted into Danganronpa!

_ There’s no turning back. Your life, your body, and your fate is in my hands. Your very soul is _ _ mine _ _ ._

She wondered if Junko Enoshima was ever really happy. She wondered what Junko’s childhood was like. She always put Enoshima on a pedestal, a girl who cared nothing for the world around her, a goddess of despair and the true, beautiful mastermind behind danganronpa, the series she loved so much. Danganronpa has gotten Tsumugi through so much, and she was hooked, obsessed. She wanted to follow in Enoshima’s footsteps and achieve similar things.

She always seemed to forget that Enoshima was a human too, though. Enoshima had a family, a sister, and probably went to school. Her family made good income, she was always pretty and rather clever. Junko could’ve been a normal girl, she could’ve lived a normal life and been happy without despair. She could’ve been a model, an actress, or gotten married. What drew her down this path? Has she ever fallen in love? Has she ever felt guilt?

Tsumugi didn’t know the answer to any of these questions, so she saw Junko as a higher power, inhuman, a deity worthy of worship. Nothing could tear Junko’s empire down. She wanted to be feared like that, she wanted to make her stories and characters come to life for the world to see, and if it cost the lives of some high school students, what of it? They’re already beyond help if they signed up for something like this. They consented to it, so she did with them as she pleased, rewriting their personalities, pitting them against each other and watching how the world took her season.

Many people loved Kaede at first, and Tsumugi couldn’t blame them - she was quite attached to Kaede herself, but she had to get rid of her early. Tsumugi created pianist to rival her, because she needed a fierce optimist to lead the audience to believe there was hope. She grew attached to Kaede, her own creation - Kaede was so good, and so kind to her. She was so kind to everyone! She was stubborn, she never gave up, and she was fiercely optimistic, insisting on believing in everyone. Insisting that everything would be alright. She tried to get along with everyone equally, even wanting to be friends when they escaped. She was good to Tsumugi, the kind of person that Tsumugi could’ve used in her life before choosing this path, a time she can’t imagine now.

_ If only she knew. _

She wanted to find the mastermind yet she also wanted to believe in everyone, and when she brushed off the obvious evidence against Tsumugi, (which should have been a relief because the show would end early if it wasn’t for that,) it frustrated her. She almost wanted Kaede to be shocked and realize just how awful she was.

It wasn’t until she began dreaming about Akamatsu, rather than Enoshima, when she realized she was in a bad spot. This won’t do, it won’t do at all. The show had to go on, and Kaede was going to figure her out. Everything would fall apart, and her viewers who had been counting on her would be devasted. If Junko could see her right now, she’d be so disappointed. She’d deem the cosplayer unworthy of her position, and be embarrassed that people like her followed in her footsteps.

_ She bashed Rantaro’s head in with the shot put ball, and felt nothing! _

The rope stung and burned against Kaede’s neck, and she was barely gasping for air, but she saw it and she knew what she saw. She saw Tsumugi, amongst the crowd of devastated, horrified children, she was calm. For a split second, she looked content, proud. That’s when she realized, it all made sense, she wanted to tell the others so bad and she tried to utter the words but all she could manage was an inaudible squeak - then everything went black.

Kaede’s death wasn’t received well, and Tsumugi couldn’t help but regret it. She missed Kaede, even if Kaede wasn’t real. Kaede was a personality she wrote, strong,stubborn, optimistic and friendly - she was beautiful and perfect and Tsumugi wanted her back. She was so disappointed in Saihara. He was a mistake. Countless times she was tempted to kill him off early, as soon as possible, but it wouldn’t be the same, it wouldn’t be honest, it wouldn’t be _ genuine _ if she conducted all the murders. She had to sit back and let her characters do it, crossing her fingers. Besides, if she killed the second protagonist and replaced him, people wouldn’t like that. They’d probably stop watching and give her bad reviews, bashing her writing and judgement.

They loved her antagonist, though - and who could blame them! Kokichi was one of her earliest drafted characters, hoping to counter shiichi’s fight for the truth with his love of lies. She gave him trust issues and good intentions, and he quickly became a fan favorite.

Angie, was meant to be both an antag and hold a position similar to Kaede’s. Someone who challenges the drama created by the mastermind with unity, insisting on finding peace in their ugly situation. Angie was tough to write as Tsumugi couldn’t easily predict the actions of someone who was so different than her. 

Certain characters were projections of her own experiences, qualities, or people she’s met. Gonta was modeled after her first friend, the boy in second grade who stood up for her when she was being bullied. He ended up taking a punch for her, and when she asked why he went through all that, he said it was because he didn’t want to see her hurt. He prided himself in being a gentleman, listened to her ramblings over her favorite stories, was always dirty and loved insects. He’d always be watching them, naming them and bringing them into the classroom. It got him in a lot of trouble. 

She didn’t think she was projecting at first. She didn’t realize until she was done writing him. He was the _ only _ character she cried genuine tears over. She couldn’t help herself.

Kaito was based off a protagonist of one of her favorite mangas - he was an idiot who was always getting into trouble, but he dreamed of space and got there. She always speculated that the character secretly cheated his way into the space program - since realistically, no one of that IQ level could honestly get into NASA.

She loved everyone in the 53rd season the way a mother loves her children. They were all of her creation, and it was sad to see them go. It was a twisted feeling that couldn’t be easily described. She wouldn’t want things any other way, sending them to their deaths didn’t truly bother her as they were created to die, created to be pitted against each other and ruined. Yet she loved them as children, she was proud of their achievements and she looked forward to seeing them grow.

As she stood, seconds away from her death, Tsumugi couldn’t bring herself to grin. She dropped her Junko cosplay and frowned bitterly, her eyes filled with dissatisfaction. The void wasn’t filled. She wasn’t happy. If there was any afterlife, she hoped Kaede was watching her now, and she hoped that beautiful girl regretted her kindness. 

It was all _ mindless _ _ entertainment, _a dark indulgent that poisoned the troubled youth from all statuses and backgrounds.


End file.
